


Nostalgia

by raven_bird



Series: Christmas Challenge 2015 [20]
Category: Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Christmas, F/F, Fluff, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 02:45:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5480330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_bird/pseuds/raven_bird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laura could find traces of the other girl in nearly every memory of her childhood.</p><p>Written for the prompt: Character A returns to their birth-town for the holidays. Character B is their estranged childhood best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nostalgia

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this Christmas Prompt Challenge](http://alloftheprompts.tumblr.com/post/134349883493/25-days-christmas-romance-challenge)
> 
> This one is... influenced almost a lot more by the original novella than the webseries? Or maybe it's a good mix of the two. Either way, you'll probably find a lot of references to the original text. (Though, of course, you don't have to read that at all to understand this)

“Dad!” Laura dropped her bags in the front hall, turning around and giving Danny, who was watching from the car, a quick thumbs up. Her friend nodded, returning the gesture, and the car pulled away from the curb and sped off. “I’m home!”

 

There was a shuffling sort of noise from deeper within the house, and within a couple of minutes, her father appeared. He was wearing his reading glasses, gold-rimmed and unfashionable, on the bridge of his nose. He was wearing a Santa hat, too, complete with light-up depictions of Christmas lights. The sight of them was enough to make Laura smile.

 

His eyes lit up. “Laura! How are you?”

 

Laura hugged him, inhaling deeply. He smelt faintly like old books and coffee, things that she had come to associate with home.

 

“Good,” she told him, pulling back. She noticed that he had gained a couple of grey hairs in the time that she had been away, and his eyes crinkled more when he smiled. It was a bittersweet observance -- she wished she could have had more time to spend with him, but it just made her more fond of him to see all the ways that he was still the same.

 

“Listen,” he told her, reaching down to pick up her bags. “Don’t bother taking off your coat. How do you feel about going out for a walk? I’ll put these up in your room, and then we can go.”

 

Laura nodded, slipping her shoes back on. “That sounds great.” Walks with her father had always been a major part of her childhood in the town, and she had been missing them everyday when she had been at school.

 

Her father was quick about putting the bags away, and before long they had both dressed for the cool weather and made their way out on the street. Laura looked at her dad’s hat and groaned.

 

“Dad,” she said, exasperated, “You can’t wear that in public.”

 

The lights on the hat were blinking rapidly, all the more obvious in the darkening evening. Her dad waved her off. “Where’s your Christmas spirit? Besides, it’s not like there’s enough people around to be too disapproving.”

 

It was true. Their town was not a large one, and it was rare that they ever encountered anyone on the streets during their walks. Laura had to admit, it was unlikely that they’d run into anyone who would be too bothered by her father’s hat. So she resigned herself to accepting her dad’s antics, and they began walking the empty streets together.

 

Their town was near a forest, which loomed tall in all directions. Seeing the trees again, after spending so long away from them, made Laura happier than she had anticipated. This town, while she had spent so long wanting to get away and meet new people, was something that was ingrained in her. She would never be able to fully escape it, she suspected, but she didn’t think that she really wanted to.

 

The houses along the street were lined with Christmas decorations, imitations of icicles hanging from porch roofs and wreaths on the doors. Laura idly looked at them as she and her father passed down the street, pointing out some of the more extravagant decorations.

 

As they walked, her father told her about some of the recent developments in town. Laura nodded as he spoke, thinking about her town. It had been so long since she had walked down this street last, but she still knew the streets like the back of her hand. Across the street was the old woman who used to babysit her. The next door down was her father’s close friend. And next to that…

 

Carmilla’s place.

 

Maybe Laura was nostalgic, but she hadn’t seen Carmilla in years and she was suddenly overcome by memories. They had been friends since they were six years old, and Laura could find traces of the other girl in nearly every memory of her childhood. When they were nine and spend two weeks trying to build their own tree house. When they were eleven, and Carmilla had pretended not to cry when her mother left town for two weeks and Carmilla had to stay with Laura. When they had gone through the old photographs in Carmilla’s attic, and Carmilla’s laughter when Laura had sneezed as the dust flew up.

 

Laura was startled from her thoughts when the door of the house she had been focused creaked open, and a cat slipped through the opening to dart into the night. A second later, the door was wrenched all the way open, and a woman stepped out, her arms crossed.

 

“Shit,” she muttered, barely audible, glancing around at ankle-level. The cat, however, was long gone.

 

Laura squinted. It was hard to tell, but she was almost certain that it was Carmilla herself that had appeared. Directing her attention to the ground, it took Laura only a couple seconds to spot the cat, hiding under a snow-covered plant. She scooped the animal up into her arms and walked towards the girl by the door.

 

“Here.” she said, handing the cat over. It meowed mournfully, apparently lamenting it’s failed escape.

 

At a closer distance, there was no doubt about it. It was Carmilla in front of her, looking somehow exactly as she had when they were children, and entirely different. Her face had changed, somehow becoming more elegant. Her hair, which had always been long and wavy, hung only to her shoulders. Laura couldn’t help thinking that she looked entirely too beautiful for words.

 

“Laura?” said Carmilla, doubtfully, stepping closer.

 

Behind Laura, she heard her father call, “I’m going to let you guys catch up! Meet you back at home, Laura.”

 

She turned to answer her dad with a nod and wave, and then turning back to her old friend. “Hey, Carm.”

 

Carmilla laughed, a little incredulously, and pulled her into a hug. “Hey! I thought you were away for school?”

 

Laura shrugged, unable to help feeling a little enchanted by Carmilla’s charm. “I’m back for the holidays. I didn’t expect to see you here, though!”

 

Carmilla grinned. “Well, this was all a happy coincidence, then. Who knew my grade-school crush would grow up to be so pretty?”

 

“You had a crush on me?” Laura blinked.

 

“Oh, please. You must have known.”

 

“I… didn’t.”

 

“Ah.” Carmilla looked at her. “How long are you staying with your father?”

 

“A week.”

 

“So I’ll be seeing you more over the holiday?”

 

Laura tilted her head. “I’d like that.”

 

“Me too,” Carmilla told her. From within the house, someone called her name. She took a step backwards, looking from Laura to the door. “Merry Christmas, Laura.”

  
“Merry Christmas,” she answered. Carmilla gave her one last lovely smile before disappearing, and Laura felt like floating. Maybe more than one good thing could transpire over her visit home. Either way, Laura had a feeling that she’d be seeing a lot more of Carmilla soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed!
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at [lavenderjehan](http://lavenderjehan.tumblr.com)


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